Serbo-Croatian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Inherited from Proto-Slavic *xъtěti.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /xtjêti/
  • Hyphenation: htje‧ti

Verb

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htjȅti impf (Cyrillic spelling хтје̏ти)

  1. (transitive) to wish, want, desire
    Hoćeš da ti pomognem? Samo reci kako.Do you want me to help you? Just say how.
  2. (intransitive, auxiliary) Used to form the future tense; shall, will, going to
    Ja ću raditi/Ja ću da radim.I will work.
  3. (reflexive, impersonal, informal) to feel like, want
    Nije mi se htjelo.I didn't feel like it. (literally, “It didn't want itself to me.”)

Usage notes

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In some dialects and colloquial speech, there is no aspiration so the initial h sound in all forms is never pronounced (e.g. hoću and htio become oću and tio respectively). In formal speech, aspiration is preferred.

Conjugation

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Conjugation of htjeti
infinitive htjeti
present verbal adverb hòtēći / htȉjūći
past verbal adverb htjȇvši / hòtjēvši
verbal noun htjénje / htȉjēnje
singular plural
1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd
present hòću / htjȅdnēm / ću hȍćeš / htjȅdnēš / ćeš hȍće / htjȅdnē / će hȍćemo / htjȅdnēmo / ćemo hȍćete / htjȅdnēte / ćete hòćē / htjȅdnū / ćē
future future I htjet ću1
htjeću
htjet ćeš1
htjećeš
htjet će1
htjeće
htjet ćemo1
htjećemo
htjet ćete1
htjećete
htjet ćē1
htjeće
future II bȕdēm htȉo2 bȕdēš htȉo2 bȕdē htȉo2 bȕdēmo htjȅli2 bȕdēte htjȅli2 bȕdū htjȅli2
past perfect htȉo sam2 htȉo si2 htȉo je2 htjȅli smo2 htjȅli ste2 htjȅli su2
pluperfect3 bȉo sam htȉo2 bȉo si htȉo2 bȉo je htȉo2 bíli smo htjȅli2 bíli ste htjȅli2 bíli su htjȅli2
aorist htjȅdoh / hòtjeh / htjȅh htjȅde / hòtje / htjȅ htjȅde / hòtje / htjȅ htjȅdosmo / hòtjesmo / htjȅsmo htjȅdoste / hòtjeste / htjȅdoste htjȅdošē / htjȅdoše / hòtješē / hòtješe / htjȅšē / htjȅše
imperfect hȍćāh / hòtijāh / htȉjāh hȍćāše / hòtijāše / htȉjāše hȍćāše / hòtijāše / htȉjāše hȍćāsmo / hòtijāsmo / htȉjāsmo hȍćāste / hòtijāste / htȉjāste hȍćāhū / hȍćāhu / hòtijāhū / hòtijāhu / htȉjāhū / htȉjāhu
conditional conditional I htȉo bih2 htȉo bi2 htȉo bi2 htjȅli bismo2 htjȅli biste2 htjȅli bi2
conditional II4 bȉo bih htȉo2 bȉo bi htȉo2 bȉo bi htȉo2 bíli bismo htjȅli2 bíli biste htjȅli2 bíli bi htjȅli2
imperative htjȅdni htjȅdnimo htjȅdnite
active past participle htȉo m / htjȅla f / htjȅlo n htjȅli m / htjȅle f / htjȅla n

1   Croatian spelling: others omit the infinitive suffix completely and bind the clitic.
2   For masculine nouns; a feminine or neuter agent would use the feminine and neuter gender forms of the active past participle and auxiliary verb, respectively.
3   Often replaced by the past perfect in colloquial speech, i.e. the auxiliary verb biti (to be) is routinely dropped.
4   Often replaced by the conditional I in colloquial speech, i.e. the auxiliary verb biti (to be) is routinely dropped.
  *Note: The aorist and imperfect were not present in, or have nowadays fallen into disuse in, many dialects and therefore they are routinely replaced by the past perfect in both formal and colloquial speech.

Further reading

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  • Pero Budmani, editor (1887–1891), “htjȅti”, in Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika[1] (in Serbo-Croatian), volume 3, Zagreb: JAZU, page 716
  • Pero Budmani, editor (1887–1891), “hòtjeti”, in Rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika[2] (in Serbo-Croatian), volume 3, Zagreb: JAZU, page 655